The pain of editing

I often see examples of the pain of editing.  Editing is not always a pain. But in a case where you want to tell someone you love all the ways you love them, you may spoil the message if you go on and on.   Yet, how can you limit yourself to just a few when all are important?  Choosing to omit can be difficult.  The problem pops up when you have many goodies to deliver.  When a visitor to a classroom comes with zeal, it may be nearly impossible for the policeman or the nurse or the pharmacist to tailor the size of the message, the number of admonitions to the attention span of the audience.  True, high school students can keep more in the heads generally than third graders but all audiences have limits of patience and capacity.  As a rule of thumb, it is better to fashion the delivery into a pleasing shape than it is to drag on too long and overload the mind. 

Paying attention to the faces and body language of the audience can help, too.  But with a large audience, say 60 people or more, you can't be all that aware of very many.  Older audiences may be bored out of the skull but too polite to let that show.  Seeing one or two persons who have fallen asleep is not always a sign that you have exceeded your time allotment. 

It usually helps to actually try to be brief.  To be so, it can be helpful to do a little planning beforehand.  If you were a member of the audience, what parts of your potential message would be most helpful, most fun, most inspiring for you to hear?  At their age, what would you have most benefited from learning?  What are some general points that most policemen, nurses or pharmacists bring to a presentation?  Selecting some of the best of the usual points and adding a few more unusual ones that come from your own experience or feelings may guide you to a well-tailored message.  Have some faith in your judgment that you can select the right number of points and words and have the courage to leave a few behind.